ALMOST HUMAN

III.

As soon as Carwyn opened the lights they placed the body on one of the metal racks which basically serves as a chiller of the bodies.

''Ano nang gagawin mo kay tatay?'' Carwyn points to the experimented body.

''Dating gawi.''

''Di ba pwedeng isang katawan lang gamitin mo this time? Pang ilan na ba yan?''

''Di ko din alam. Sampu? Twenty? Who knows? Mahirap mag recycle ng prototype. At the end of the day tao pa din tingin ko sa kanila kaya gusto ko pa rin ibigay yung respeto by burying them after. Basta make sure na tatawagan mo si Jester kung may space pa sa north cemetery. Bumili ka din ng bulaklak tapos ilagay mo sa puntod.'' Belle gives him money and off she goes.

In her room located at the 2nd floor. Belle enters, carefully not stepping on the wires sticked on the floor. They vary in sizes and colors, thick and thin, blue, red, orange ang black, travelling to the surrounding walls of the room up to the high ceiling. Her room almost looks like there is a maze. Alone, she took off her jacket and sat in front of a study table where in four keyboard monitors are placed like picture frames. She opens them all and tries to click on a few files containing her recent prototype.

The silence maybe deafening but Belle's thoughts are noisy. She has kept all her worries inside this little room ever since she came here when she was 16 years old. Saksi ang kwartong ito sa maraming beses na sinubukan niyang gumawa ng prototype. Her bed which is a single sized mattress with one pillow became her best friend during those moments wherein she can't score a single scholarship abroad. Tears dry up easily in the sheets.

She wants to leave this place. By place. She meant this life. Miserable, alone, and desolate. She craves freedom like the birds sitting prettily on the lamp posts outside her window.

More folders, algorithms, computations, figures, and sketches keep appearing on the screen until she gets into a specific folder. Punong-puno ito ng mga litrato. Mga equipment, machines, robot like toys made from indigenous materials like wood, cardboard and scrap metals. And then the picture of a man holding a blower like equipment.

His father. Curls in his hair, a black eye glass, those round eyes that sparkle every time a new idea comes. How she wished he was still here.

Another folder opens entitled ''ALMOST HUMAN''